Coming out
Coming out of the closet (often shortened to coming out) describes voluntarily making public one's sexual behaviors or orientation, "being out" to not concealing one's sexual behaviors or orientation, and "outing" for making public the sexual behaviors or orientation of another who would prefer to keep this information secret.Many people who identify themselves as homosexual, or who might prefer homosexual activities or relationships, have engaged in heterosexual activities or even have long-term heterosexual relationships. Such "heterosexual" behavior by people who would otherwise be homosexual has often been part of being "in the closet", and may be becoming less common as acceptance of homosexuality increases.
Coming out has an etiquette of its own, developed through the experiences of people who did it in a way they later decided was inappropriate and more stressful than it had to be.
Coming out is often a gradual process. It is common to come out first to a trusted friend or family member, and wait to come out to others. Some people are out at work but not to their families, or vice-versa. A person might say "I'm out at work, but I'm not out to my family".
Not surprisingly, some studies have found that the degree to which a person can be out in a large number of life situations seems to strongly correlate with lack of stress and freedom from neurosis.
The practice of announcing a closeted homosexual's orientation against his or her own wishes is known as outing them. Outing someone can be very traumatic and embarassing for the victim, and as such is often used to purposely hurt a person or damage their reputation.
Today, more homosexuals than ever are out, and their general belief is that being in the closet is unhealthy for the individual. A common saying is, "Closets are for clothes". One major gay magazine is titled Out Magazine.